Preparations Begin for April Border Meeting

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
02 March 2009

Officials for Thai and Cambodian border committees opened a two-day meeting in Phnom Penh Monday to organize an agenda for dialogue between the two countries in April.“We only prepared some documents for the border secretariat committee…meeting which will take place next month,” Neang Phat, secretary of state for the Ministry of Defense, told reporters after the meeting.

The meeting was closed to the press following brief opening remarks by officials early Monday.

The April meeting will include finding a joint compromise for the Preah Vihear standoff, following the meeting between both prime ministers last month, Neang Phat said. “We want to avoid clashes between the two militaries.”

Cambodian and Thailand each have soldiers deployed along the border near Preah Vihear temple, in a standoff that has led to several skirmishes and the deaths of at least four soldiers.

Last month, Cambodia lambasted Thailand for firing rockets over the border, in what Thai military officials said was an accident.